An up-and-coming program, little to no historical success, riding high on the strength of a high-powered offense. Just put some flashy (sometimes ugly) uniforms on the Indiana Hoosiers, and the Oregon Ducks are looking at the late 2000s version of themselves. 2007 was Chip Kelly’s first year as the Oregon offensive coordinator, and he took the Ducks’ offensive from very ...

In Hoosiers, the Ducks See Their Former Selves

Thank you for a really fun read, Darren. Especially enjoyed all of the subtopics.

Fun read Darren. Thank you and all the writers for your time and effort in preparIng and presenting your articles.

This weekends matchup with the Hoosiers reminds me of our title game with the Buckeyes. Lots of talent on both side of the ball. However the Buckeyes were bigger, stronger and deeper in the trenches on both lines of scrimmage.

The Buckeyes took a few punchrs to the face early but eventially pounded the Ducks, then took control of the game.

The 2025 Ducks are bigger, stronger and deeper on both sides of the ball than the boys,from Indiana. Add in future NFL talent in the secondary and the uber talented skill position players on offense and we should see the Ducks take control of this game in the 3rd quarter.

This game, as long as the Ducks play clean, mistake free ball should expose the Hoosiers weaknesses and lack of depth. It will be a good, hard fought game with the Ducks covering the spread!

Throw in the Autzen crowd and Ducks win by 17 plus. This is a big stage for the Hoosiers and I am hoping the Ducks take them to the woodshed! We shall see......

Darren, Texas is a mess and Manning is just not playing well against equal or greater talent.

PSU lost either its heart or soul or both to the Ducks and the Bruins then picked apart the carcass. PSU has a remaining schedule, if they win out, that can put them in CFP! I have my doubts.....

Go Ducks.....

Exceptional coach with a group of 3-Star players who have been coached up, and sprinkled with some star skill players....yep, Oregon has been there.

Fun article Darren, as your writing style is unique and entertaining.

13 minutes ago, Charles Fischer said:

Exceptional coach with a group of 3-Star players who have been coached up, and sprinkled with some star skill players....yep, Oregon has been there.

Fun article Darren, as your writing style is unique and entertaining.

Thanks, Charles. You came to mind when I inserted the link to the Brittany Spears link. 😄

4 hours ago, Grandpa Duck said:

Thank you for a really fun read, Darren. Especially enjoyed all of the subtopics.

Thanks for reading!

I was thinking the same thing before your article.

If you take the name off the jersey, Indiana would be even ranked higher than they are based on how they are playing (on both sides of the ball) and their resume to date. They are not getting the benefit of the doubt that Oregon now receives, after decades of success.

This is a really good football team we will be playing on Saturday and their coaching staff has done a tremendous job.

Hope Autzen brings the noise on Saturday!

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by OregonDucks

2 hours ago, HappyToBeADuck said:

Fun read Darren. Thank you and all the writers for your time and effort in preparIng and presenting your articles.

This weekends matchup with the Hoosiers reminds me of our title game with the Buckeyes. Lots of talent on both side of the ball. However the Buckeyes were bigger, stronger and deeper in the trenches on both lines of scrimmage.

The Buckeyes took a few punchrs to the face early but eventially pounded the Ducks, then took control of the game.

The 2025 Ducks are bigger, stronger and deeper on both sides of the ball than the boys,from Indiana. Add in future NFL talent in the secondary and the uber talented skill position players on offense and we should see the Ducks take control of this game in the 3rd quarter.

This game, as long as the Ducks play clean, mistake free ball should expose the Hoosiers weaknesses and lack of depth. It will be a good, hard fought game with the Ducks covering the spread!

Throw in the Autzen crowd and Ducks win by 17 plus. This is a big stage for the Hoosiers and I am hoping the Ducks take them to the woodshed! We shall see......

Darren, Texas is a mess and Manning is just not playing well against equal or greater talent.

PSU lost either its heart or soul or both to the Ducks and the Bruins then picked apart the carcass. PSU has a remaining schedule, if they win out, that can put them in CFP! I have my doubts.....

Go Ducks.....

Yeah, dare I say slow things down with methodical ball control, ground and pound them. Take the air out of their offense. Thanks for the comments!

Thanks, Darren. Always a treat!

247 Sports combined roster rankings: OBD No. 5, Hoosiers No. 72.

Oregon has a significant roster and home-field advantage. You can bet, as we saw in the movie 'Hoosiers', Curt Cignetti will focus on the David vs. Goliath theme. The Hoosiers survived a letdown rock fight game at Iowa to climb to No. 7 in the AP.

Under Cignetti, Indiana has come to life. Cig took over the 'losingest' team in CFB, and in 2024, Indiana's 11 wins set the Indiana record. Football season tickets are sold out for the first time in ... forever. The man's two losses at Indiana to date were road games against the final AP No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Notre Dame.

Saturday will give Indiana the chance to break its 0-46 road record against top-five-ranked teams. Indiana did win its last game played against Oregon; Oregon's 24 to 30 loss to Indiana in 2024 was authored by Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo. Today, DiNardo, an AA guard and national champ winner at Notre Dame, is one of the Big Ten Network's lead football analysts.

During the Brooks and Bellotti years, compared to the Hoosiers, OBD was Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers. The Arches aren't Golden in Austin, for sure, but for decades, the Indiana football Hoosiers put the S in HoSers and Suck. 🤬

FWIW, the last 2025 NFL draft I saw on Athlon has Dante at No. 1, Moore better than Fernando Mendoza at No. 3. The QB play in the SEC this season was predicted to be the best, but this game could feature the best QB duel of the regular season.

James Franklin and his coaching staff belong in the State Pen and not at Penn State. The PSU coaches, especially on special teams and defense, were schooled by interim Bruins head coach Tim Skipper and first-time play caller Jerry Neuheisel, who allowed Nico to play with athletic abandon.

PSU tanking does matter, possibly a lot. First, a 9-3, or 8-4 Penn State, hurts the seeding of every B1G playoff team. Second, Penn State not qualifying for the playoff means a loss of multi-millions for the conference. Third, depending on Saturday's results, especially Indiana at OBD, Ohio State at Illinois, Michigan at USC, and Nebraska at Maryland, the conference could be at risk of having only two teams finish 10-2 or better in the regular season. (Perhaps in error, I'm giving UW the Friday night home win against OBD's Week 8 opponent, Rutgers.)

Darren, thanks again for another enjoyable read.

Hose Down the Hoosiers!

Cig....who's your Daddy at Autzen?

A B1G Unforeseen Game? Indiana was not dumped on in the preseason by every 'expert,' just most. Like, Pat Forde at SI.

OK, I'm biased, but I prefer Darren's article, and I doubt that Forde volunteers to write for SI. 😁

SI

Forde-Yard Dash: The Stunning Big Ten Showdown Nobody Pre...

The Hoosiers and Ducks meet Saturday as top 10 contenders with Heisman hopefuls and College Football Playoff dreams on the line.

"Indiana did win its last game played against Oregon; Oregon's 24 to 30 loss to Indiana in 2004 was authored by Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo."

That odd 2004 Indiana game (even through the 4-8 Helfrich cave in, Bellotti's 2004 "lost" season, and the 1996 "Stubler experiment") remains one of only two losses by Oregon in Autzen in the last 30 years to teams that finished with a losing record.

2004 Indiana (3-8): 24-30

1996 UCLA (5-6): 22-41

The Indiana story was primarily 7 Oregon turnovers. UCLA 1996 was right in the middle of five straight losses in the middle of the season as teams were running wild on the Duck D. UCLA outgained Oregon in rushing 303 yards to 45 yards (with Oregon missing starting RB Saladin McCullough that day).

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by AnotherOD

Fun read. Thanks Darren.

This could be a very good game for viewers. Both offenses are playing lights out. Which defense steps up will be the key.

We stopped the run at PSU, now can we defend the pass.

C'mon Autzen. Be loud and proud!